Expert Round-Up Topic: How Do You Measure Success as an Author, and Did That Change After Publishing?
NICK H. KAMBOJ
Pre-Publication Viewpoint – Revenue Focus
I launched my publishing company Aston & James Publishing shortly after my fourth book. Prior to my books being published and made available through various channels such as Amazon, B&N, BAM, etc., success to me was measured by the number of units that I sold and the royalties that I would receive. Success was also measured by the number of paid speaking engagements and associated consulting opportunities. However, this was naive and immature. This is a phase that many authors go through, and it is short-lived and unsatisfying in the long-term. Statistically, during this period, I came to find that an author selling 500 books over a lifetime is considered to be a great achievement. Hence, I used that as a metric. And if my books didn’t sell that minimum amount, I would be very disappointed, as if it reflected the quality of my work or its contribution to society. As I matured as a person and as an author, I came to find that revenue was not the ideal measure of success.
Post Publication Viewpoint – Impact Focus
However, after authoring nine books, and having become intimately familiar with the ecosystem, both as a reader, author and publisher, my measure of success has changed slightly. Although the number of book units and revenue/royalty per unit is important, I have come to find that I am also finding direct messages from my readers to be even more valuable. I love hearing from my readers how much they have enjoyed my books and the impact that they have had on their personal or professional lives. There are some of my books which may not sell as well as their siblings; however, these low selling books have garnered more communication with my audiences. There is definitely incongruity in consumer behavior. I wrote all my books because I was passionate about the topics. The books sold. I was initially very focused on the numbers; however, the books will continue to sell long after I am gone, and those numbers will eventually be achieved. But I find now that my joy comes primarily from hearing the impact of my books and specifically what parts of my books have resonated the most with my readers.
Nick H. Kamboj is the author of nine nonfiction books.
https://www.astonjamespublishing.com/
DIANA HOLQUIST
As a ghostwriter of dozens of nonfiction business books, I find that authors often enter the publishing process with hugely unrealistic expectations, whether that means becoming a New York Times bestseller, securing a $250,000 traditional publishing deal, or appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast. Those outcomes are possible, but they’re highly unlikely unless an author already has a substantial audience and knows how to reach it.
Instead, I encourage authors to set one specific goal for themselves and another for their readers. A physician might want her book to generate two keynote speeches in the year after publication, allowing her to teach fellow doctors how to navigate healthcare AI. The founder of a marketing firm might want his book to bring in $1 million in new business by sharing the exact framework he uses with clients.
The biggest mistake authors make is judging success by becoming a bestseller. Amazon bestseller status, in particular, is often largely a marketing play to sell enough books in a niche category during a short window. Brent Underwood, #1 Amazon Bestselling Author, famously demonstrated this with his book about his left foot, which became an Amazon bestseller in the Freemasonry & Secret Societies category after selling only three copies.
Books are hard. Really hard. They’re hard to conceptualize, hard to write, and hard to publish. Unless you understand exactly what you want from your book, there are thousands of less maddening uses of your time and treasure. Publishing is not for the faint of heart.
Diana Holquist is a ghostwriter and editor.
http://www.workingdraftcreative.com/
DALE DADOY
Writing my book, Back to Myself, gave a voice to the little girl in me. The one that was silenced for a long time. I never expected the book to be a bestseller or to make a lot of money. I just wanted it to be impactful, and I wanted it my inner self to be seen.
I wrote it because I wanted my story to mean something to someone.
And now I’ve actually seen that happen with some of the people closest to me. My friends, people who know me. I’ve seen them take some of the lessons and the meaning behind the book and use it in their own lives.
That means a lot to me.
For me, success is not really about money, sales, or material things. It’s giving meaning to my hardships and giving the little girl in me a voice. And in the process touched another being who is also looking for his or her voice
If my story can do that, then that is enough for me.
Dale Dadoy is the author of Back to Myself.
ANGELA ZENG, PHD
When I published my first book The Balance Cure, I measured success the same way most first-time authors do: I checked my Amazon ranking every morning (more often than I like to admit) and counted the reviews. As a scientist by training, I turn to numbers for the honest answer.
I learned that these weren’t the whole answer. What changed my mind was a reader’s email sharing how one chapter in my book helped her understand her own body a little better. That was the day I stopped rank-checking.
Today my measure of success is simple: does the book truly provide value to the readers? A good indicator can be questions from readers, and even invitations to speak. As a founder, I also noticed the book opened doors that my product never did. Buyers, journalists, and event organizers take you more seriously when you put the effort and time into outlining your thoughts on paper and getting it published, and it gave me another way to explain what I stand for.
My advice to new authors is to decide what success means to you. If it is only sales, the first slow month can break your heart. If it is readers telling you they find it useful, you will find success in places the sales dashboard never shows.
Angela Zeng, PhD is the author of The Balance Cure: The TCM Way to Lasting Weight Loss and the founder of Karviva.
LINDA MURRAY BULLARD, MBA, PMP
I self-published my book, The Well Ran Dry: Memoirs of a Motherless Child, in May 2013. This was me purging my thoughts into a personal essay that later became my memoirs about the impact of my mother dying on Christmas Day in 1968 from the Hong Kong Flu. My book talks about how life unfolded after an overly nurturing mom. Success for me came when the United States Library of Congress accepted my book into their General archives, making it available in every public library in the United States, upon request. No one I’ve known my entire life had a book in the Library of Congress. Since then, my book has won awards, had several mentions and introduced me to strangers around the world. Coincidently, that 2019 almost took me out, as well.
I wrote the book after losing my 26-year career from an insurance company. It has changed my entire life. People are very respectful of authors who cast their thoughts into the world. I’ve enjoyed having it sweep up by those it was meant to touch. So very cool to see my book in the hands of strangers. That has been like hearing my song on the radio cool!
Linda Murray Bullard, MBA, PMP is the author of The Well Ran Dry: Memoirs of a Motherless Child and the “Building Your Own Business” Series.
JOSUÉ SOLÓRZANO
I measure success by who I become through writing, not by what happens after publishing. Today I don’t measure it by sales or followers, but by whether I can back up what I wrote with facts. A book that sells a lot and leaves the author unchanged has failed; one that sells little but forces the author to live differently has succeeded. And yes, it changed after publishing. My book, Define Tu Autoridad, came out on May 23, 2026. I never thought about publishing a book, so becoming an author is already a success for me. That opens up opportunities, but above all it changes one’s mindset. You start seeing everything differently, with more enthusiasm and better judgment to keep moving forward. The book doesn’t promise quick success. It talks about identity, judgment, and personal responsibility, and it ends by saying that before conquering new opportunities, one must become someone capable of sustaining them. Publishing it forced me to live up to that first.
Josué Solórzano is the author of Define Tu Autoridad and a digital authority & AI systems specialist.
